Church Of All Saints

Church of All Saints, Oakhill

An Anglican church built between 1860 and 1863, designed by the prominent architect John Loughborough Pearson. The building stands on Bath Road, Oakhill, oriented north-east to south-west.

The church is constructed of grey limestone rubble with bands and dressings of Bath stone ashlar, with slate-covered pitched roofs. It follows a simple two-cell plan comprising an aisleless nave and chancel, with a small porch to the south and vestry to the north. The architecture is Early English in style, featuring paired lancet windows in the nave and single lancets in the chancel. The west window contains two lancets, while the east window has three. A single bellcote adorns the west front. Single buttresses are positioned on the north-east and south-west elevations of the nave. The porch entrance features mouldings of two chamfered orders with a hood-mould above, while the pointed arch doorway is decorated with rosettes and pairs of chevrons. The timber doors are fitted with decorative strap hinges.

Inside, the walls are smoothly rendered and whitewashed, with windows set in deep splayed reveals. The chancel arch has mouldings of two chamfered orders, the inner supported on engaged columns with bell-shaped capitals and a hood-mould above. An early 20th-century photograph shows that the chancel arch and surrounding wall once displayed a highly decorative paint scheme, now painted over. The nave floor is laid with red and black tiles, while the chancel is floored with coloured patterned mosaic. A reredos of seven Gothic arches filled with patterned tiles stands behind the altar, alongside an octagonal stone font. The drum-shaped stone pulpit features delicately carved and painted rosette panels and is of particularly fine quality. Pine pews with shaped ends and moulded top rails line the nave, accompanied by choir stalls of similar design with pierced backs. An organ with decorative pipework is also present. The nave has an open-truss roof, and the chancel features a wagon ceiling.

Oakhill's development was largely driven by the Oakhill Brewery, established in the village in the late 18th century. In 1860, a local architectural firm, Wainwright and Heard, submitted an initial church design, but this was rejected by the Incorporated Church Building Society and never executed. John Loughborough Pearson was subsequently commissioned to produce an alternative design, which was accepted. Pearson (1817–1897) was a prolific and nationally renowned architect responsible for over 250 major works. He trained as an assistant to Anthony Salvin and later Philip Hardwick before establishing his own practice in 1843. He became Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1860 and Royal Academician in 1880, serving as architect to several great cathedrals including Lincoln, Rochester, Bristol, and Peterborough. His masterpiece is Truro Cathedral in Cornwall, commenced in 1880.

The church was constructed between 1860 and 1863. The only modification to Pearson's original design was the addition of a buttress on the north side of the nave, made at the insistence of the Incorporated Church Building Society. The building survives largely unaltered, retaining its original historic character and features throughout.